What to know concerning the MOP and the B-2, the bunker-buster bomb and aircraft that could possibly be used to strike Iran
Israel’s strikes in opposition to Iran have killed various its prime nuclear scientists and battered its nuclear amenities, however full destruction of Iran’s capacity to make weapons-grade uranium is believed to be out of attain — until the U.S. agrees to assist.
At the very least one key uranium enrichment website, Fordo, has up to now been unscathed. Positioned 300 ft beneath a mountain and guarded by Russian-produced air defenses, Fordo is believed by army specialists to be key to Iran’s nuclear program. Nuclear non-proliferation specialists say that is the place Iran has tried to complement uranium for weapons functions and increase its stockpile of enriched uranium.
Israel’s finest likelihood at destroying the power at Fordo might lie with a U.S.-produced bomb that is so heavy that it may well solely be dropped by a U.S. aircraft. At a listening to Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire raised this with Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“It is being reported that the president is being requested to contemplate offering the bunker-buster bomb that’s required to be carried solely by the B-2 Bomber and would require a U.S. pilot,” she stated, asking Hegseth whether or not he had been requested to supply President Trump with choices for placing the Center East. He declined to reply.
Mr. Trump is contemplating becoming a member of Israel’s offensive in opposition to Iran, and accredited assault plans Tuesday, however has not made a ultimate resolution, CBS Information has reported. The White Home stated Thursday that the president would decide on whether or not to order a strike throughout the subsequent two weeks. Sources advised CBS Information that the president had mentioned the logistics of utilizing bunker-buster bombs as he weighs whether or not to wade into the battle between Iran and Israel.
Huge Ordnance Penetrator bomb
U.S. Air Drive through AP, File
The bomb that Shaheen was referring to is the GBU-57 Huge Ordnance Penetrator, referred to as a MOP. It’s designed to assault “deeply-buried amenities and hardened bunkers and tunnels,” in response to the Air Drive. It is guided by army GPS and is supposed to achieve and destroy targets in well-protected amenities.
The MOP measures about 20.5 ft in size and 31.5 inches in diameter, in response to the Air Drive.
It weighs in at just below 30,000 kilos, together with about 5,300 kilos of explosive materials. The Air Drive says that the MOP’s explosive energy is over 10 occasions that of its predecessor, the BLU-109.
It is designed to penetrate as much as 200 ft underground earlier than exploding. The warhead is encased in a particular high-performance metal alloy, which is supposed to allow it to hold a big explosive payload whereas sustaining the penetrator case’s integrity throughout affect, in response to an Air Drive reality sheet.
Boeing developed the GBU-57, and as of 2015, the aerospace firm had been contracted to supply 20 of them, in response to the Air Drive.
Due to the GBU-57’s weight — it is the heaviest bomb produced by the U.S. — the B-2 Spirit is presently the one plane within the Air Drive that’s geared up to hold and deploy it.
B-2 Spirit
Steve Parsons/PA Photographs through Getty Photographs 
One of many key attributes of the B-2 Spirit is its stealth — it is capable of evade air defenses and attain closely defended targets. It is aerodynamically environment friendly and its inner weapons bays can carry two of the GBU-57 bombs.
Due to what the Air Drive refers to because the aircraft’s “low-observable applied sciences,” the B-2 Spirit has a “excessive stage of freedom of motion at excessive altitudes.” It is constructed with a mix of “decreased infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, visible and radar signatures.” This, together with composite supplies, particular coatings, wing design and different categorised processes, make the B-2 troublesome for even probably the most refined protection programs to detect and observe.
With out refueling, its vary is about 6,000 nautical miles.
The B-2 took its first flight in 1989, in California, however now, Whiteman Air Drive Base, in Missouri, is the one B-2 base. It has been used for airstrikes within the Kosovo Conflict, in Afghanistan and in Iraq. The prime contractor for the B-2 is Northrop Grumman.
For years, some lawmakers and protection specialists have instructed that the U.S. present Israel with GBU-57 bombs and jets able to carrying them — however the thought is controversial, with critics arguing the transfer could be provocative.
